Pesach 5765

Sippur Yitzeas Mitrayim begins with the paragraph of Mitichilah Ovdei Avodah Zara Hayu Avoseinu and segues into the pasukim of Arami Oveid Avi. We open at a point where we couldn’t be more distant from Hashem, and ultimately achieve closeness with Hashem and a separation from the other nations. (Rambam, Hichos Chametz U’Matzah, 7:4)

But along the way, we get chronologically sidetracked from what the Rambam tells us to focus on. We make mention of Terach Avi Avraham and then of Avraham himself, then of Yitzchak, and then of Yaakov and Eisav, and Yaakov and his sons heading down to Mitzrayim. The obvious next segment of this sequence should be Shibud Mitzrayim, yet we break our train of thought and retrace history back to Avraham and the Bris Bein HaBisarim. We thank Hashem for keeping his promise to Avraham that we would go down to Mitzrayim and, 400 years later, emerge a free nation.

OK, so now we should get back to the story and detail how Hashem kept His promise. Right? Wrong! In fact, we totally abandon the Hagadah’s history lesson and talk about how all the nations of the world hate us. It must be known before we continue any further into the Hagadah that Paroh wasn’t the only person who tried to kill us, but rather in every generation, they try to murder us. And miraculously Hashem saves us each and every time. What does this paragraph have anything to do with Yitze’as Mitzrayim?

Lets slow down for a second. What really is the point of this paragraph? Is it really inserted to pique our awareness of anti-Semitism? The words certainly suggest so, but then it wouldn’t have to end with thanks to Hashem for saving us every generation. Perhaps this no more than an extension of the previous Baruch Shomer Havtachaso, a tribute to Hashem for keeping us alive in every generation, because had it not been for His promise to Avraham, who knows if we would have been alive to make it down to Mitzrayim altogether. Tzei U’Limad Ma Bikeish Lavan HaArami! We must thank Hashem for keeping us alive so that we could journey down to Mitzrayim in the first place! And that’s why ViHee She’Amdah belongs exactly where we read it. And so everything fits together nicely…

Except we haven’t explained why we need to thank Hashem for keeping His promise. Somehow, the Bris Bein HaBisarim plays a vital role within our acknowledgement of the relationship we eventually establish with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Strangely, this acknowledgement somehow belongs out of its proper frame in history’s timeline and instead attached to Yaakov’s journey down to Mitzrayim. Why? The paragraph of Tzei U’Limad seems to come as an explanation of everything we acknowledge in ViHee She’Amdah, so perhaps we should look a little further into the Hagadah’s story.

In Tzei U’Limad, we seem to focus on the evil of Lavan, the fact that he wanted to destroy the entire Jewish nation while Paroh only wanted to wipe out the males. What a perfect night to belittle Shibud Mitzrayim! And who really cares how much Lavan hated us? Lavan hated us, Mitzrayim hated us, both wanted to destroy the nation, both are remembered in the ViHee She’amdah, we were saved from both by Hashem. Does this really need to become a competition over who hates us more?

Which forces us to wonder if even Tzei U’Limad was intended to make us aware of Anti-Semitism. If Tzei U’Limad is merely a clarification of ViHee She’Amdah, then it can only serve as an analysis of anti-Semitism if ViHee She’Amdah does. So Tzei U’Limad is not an analysis of anti-Semitism after all. Rather, our awareness of how much Lavan hated us is the very form by which we thank Hashem. And if we can prove this, then maybe we can also come to understand why the thanks to Hashem we offer with our Bikurim must begin with the recognition that Arami Oveid Avi, as Rashi translates: (Lavan the) Arami sought to destroy our forefather (Yaakov).

What event in history does Arami Oveid Avi revisit and recount? Rashi in Ki Tavo (26:5) says this is a reference to the day when Lavan chased after Yaakov. Yaakov was living three days away from his father-in-law when he fled. Therefore, it took three days for Lavan to discover his son-in-law’s actions, and he furiously chased after Yaakov with lethal intent. When Lavan began his pursuit, Yaakov had a six day head start (as the messengers traveled three days east, Yaakov traveled three days west), but Lavan’s hatred fueled his chase and he caught up in only one day. Hashem appeared to Lavan in a dream that night and warned him to speak kindly to Yaakov the next morning, and it was this miraculous dream that saved Yaakov’s life. So Arami Oveid Avi refers to Lavan’s redifah.

To review, Lavan’s redifah was Derech Shivas Yamim, a seven day journey traveled in one day. Keep two things in mind: 1) Yaakov fled so fast, he could travel as fast as the messengers who returned to Lavan to tell over the bad news. 2) Lavan STILL caught up in one day! Fueled by Anti-Semitism, Lavan’s hatred of Yaakov was the sole reason he ever caught up.

So Lavan miraculously reached to Yaakov, and not a moment too soon, since virtually immediately after Yaakov’s confrontation with Lavan comes his confrontation with Eisav. How soon we forget that Lavan wasn’t the only man chasing after Yaakov with thoughts to kill him.

The years that Yaakov spent with Lavan taught him how to coexist with a man like Eisav, but even after those twenty years, Yaakov still only felt comfortable dealing with tricksters from a comfortable distance. Yaakov’s only hope to reunite with his brother was to learn to coexist peacefully, in close proximity, and that was something he learned to do when Lavan confronted him this last time. After this final confrontation, Yaakov undergoes a tremendous metamorphosis; he puts his head down to sleep for the first time in twenty years, and right next to Lavan. Only then is he prepared to, in the upcoming parasha, save his life a second time; only then has he properly learned how to coexist with Edom, as is clear to Eisav, who offers to travel alongside Yaakov. Though Yaakov refuses his brother’s offer, he says he will catch up and travel together in the future.

Tzei U’Limad how much Lavan wanted to kill us, for if he hadn’t such a strong desire, Eisav would have certainly finished what Lavan had initially set out to do. It’s also worth noting that ViHee She’Amdah is very unclear as to whom it refers. SheLo Echad Bilvad Amad Aleinu LiKaloseinu, Elah SheBiChol Dor VaDor Omdim Aleinu LiKaloseinu. Shouldn’t it have read SheLo Dor Echad, and furthermore, why does it change from singular to plural? There are really two aspects to our recognition in ViHee She’amdah. First, we must recognize that Shibud Mitzrayim was not the only time in history we faced persecution. But we must also be aware that in those other generations, there is no single adversary. Lavan wasn’t the only foe out to destroy Yaakov. And yet Hashem arranged history in such a way that we could deal with all our enemies, one way or another. That’s the thanks and acknowledgement we express within Baruch Shomer Havtachaso; that’s the recognition of Arami Oveid Avi. And so when we recognize VaYeired Mitzraimah VaYagar Sham when we bring Bekurim, we make sure to note Arami Oveid Avi, for there is no greater proof that Hashem is Mechasheiv Es HaKeitz than if we look back at history and recognize how even the Anti-Semetism we face, ironically enough, is what keeps us alive.